Ike Update
Final Cap the Ike plan nearer
Community consensus on a preferred concept
for covering the Eisenhower Expressway through Oak Park moved
closer to reality last month with the unveiling of three
concepts distilled from an ongoing, extensive public planning
process. These latest, more detailed designs were based upon
public comments about six preliminary concepts presented in
July, as well as input gathered through other visioning and
community input processes. The three plans now under review
have several features in common, including rebuilding all
existing transit stations to provide easier access to the CTA
Blue Line, an east-west path from Harlem Avenue to Austin
Boulevard to link to the Prairie Path and to Columbus Park and
new or expanded parks and open space over the expressway. Each
concept also would reconstruct Garfield Street to be a standard
width, two-way street over the railroad tracks, create several
new north-south crossings over the expressway for pedestrians,
bicycles and vehicular traffic and extend Harrison to connect
with Garfield to bring both sides of the Oak Park
Avenue/Eisenhower Business districts closer together with a
new, safer intersection over the highway. All of the new
features in each plan would be located on new land created by
the cap, so no existing commercial buildings or residences
would be displaced. One concept, entitled Invisible Ike, would cover
the entire length of the expressway through Oak Park with 30
acres of new active and passive recreation space including a
multipurpose sports field house and other civic amenities such
as a conference center and arts center, as well as 4.3 acres of
mixed use or residential property. The other two concepts -- Green Space and Thousand Trees --
would cover less of the expressway, but still include
innovative use of green plants and trees to reduce the effects
of the highway where it remained open. The Green Space option
uses a trellis-like space frame to hold plantings over the
expressway and features an urban nature center and civic park.
The Thousand Trees option uses a tree-lined berm along a six-to-10-feet
high noise wall to reduce expressway effects where the highway
is not completely covered, and features an amphitheater, arts
center and community center. Public comment on the designs and
preferences for the features found in each will be taken until
Sept. 10 and then used to develop a single plan for further
public discussion sometime in October. The concepts are on
display in the public area at Village Hall and can be viewed on
the project website www.captheikestudy.com. For more
information, call 358.5778 or email village@oak-park.us.
